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RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHGH #0090/01 0540237
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230237Z FEB 09
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7668
INFO RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1773
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0229
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 1940
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 1764
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 1563
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 8302
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2543

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SHANGHAI 000090 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
TREASURY FOR OASIA/INA/CUSHMAN AND WINSHIP 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM, INR/B, DRL, EAP/PD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ECON EFIN KJUS KPAO SENV SOCI CH
SUBJECT: ECONOMIC ISSUES DOMINATE JIANGSU COURT, PROCURATORATE 
WORKLOAD 
 
(U) This cable is sensitive but unclassified and for official 
use only.  Not for distribution outside of USG channels or via 
the internet. 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Supporting government efforts to maintain economic 
growth figures prominently among the tasks facing the Jiangsu 
Provincial High Court and Procuratorate.  Contract disputes make 
up the largest portion of new cases before the Jiangsu High 
Court, according to the court's president.  Nevertheless, the 
global economic downturn had had a limited impact so far on the 
judicial workload in Jiangsu.  Communist Party organs do not 
have a significant role in the selection of judges at the 
grassroots level, the official asserted.  Procuratorate 
officials suggested the departure of migrant laborers from 
Jiangsu due to the economic downturn could lead to a lower crime 
rate in the province.  They also stressed their efforts in 
combating corruption would center on preventing misuse of 
government stimulus funds although prosecutions that could 
jeopardize the survival of key enterprises will be handled 
"carefully."  High Court and Procuratorate officials both 
appeared to welcome further contact and cooperation with the 
Consulate General.  End summary. 
 
Civil Disputes Dominate High Court Workload 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Jiangsu's 2008 caseload in the provincial courts 
increased 25 percent over the previous year, according to 
Jiangsu High Court President Gong Pixiang.  Meeting with 
Congenoffs February 12, Gong said contract disputes made up the 
bulk of the High Court's workload.  Particularly difficult or 
complicated cases -- notably those arising from the current 
global economic downturn -- have been relatively few.  (Note: 
Gong has a significant reputation as a legal scholar -- he 
served as president and party secretary of Nanjing Normal 
University before his appointment to the court in 2002 -- and 
spent six months as a visiting scholar at the University of 
Maryland.  Jiangsu media also have reported Gong heads a 
provincial task force responsible for expediting bankruptcy and 
other economic cases through the judicial system in an attempt 
to bolster government efforts to deal with the fallout of the 
worsening economy.  End note.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) Separately, Jiangsu High Court Vice President Zhang Yi 
told Congenoff the provincial court system is working to ensure 
that the economic downturn does not result in any backsliding on 
environmental protection regulations.  Lake Tai, near Wuxi, a 
major source for drinking water, has had blue algae issues 
attributed to industrial waste, agricultural and residential 
pollution, causing the Jiangsu Provincial Government to adopt a 
series of stricter regulatory measures.  Zhang claimed the court 
would accept charges 24 hours per day against polluting 
companies at a special claims court in Wuxi. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Gong said Jiangsu's courts have an active program of 
interaction with foreign judicial authorities and cited a recent 
visit by a scholar from Yale University as particularly useful. 
The main benefit for local jurists of international contacts 
lies in comparing concrete case-handling procedures.  Gong 
appeared open to the idea of possible proposals for relevant 
speakers or other programs sponsored by Congen Shanghai in the 
future but indicated knowing the specifics of any program would 
be important. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Asked about the professional qualification of judges in 
Jiangsu, Gong said over 92 percent have a bachelors degree or 
higher and added the responsibility of the High Court in the 
training of judges is quite burdensome.  The High Court has the 
primary role in recruiting and assigning judges in the province. 
 Communist Party Policy and Law Commissions (zhengfawei) do not 
have a major role in this process, Gong stressed. 
 
Procuratorate: Weak Economy Has Bad and Good Effects 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Jiangsu People's Procuratorate Deputy 
 
SHANGHAI 00000090  002 OF 003 
 
 
Procurator-General Chen Guixi indicated to Congenoffs February 
13 the 2008 caseload of the provincial Procuratorate was almost 
the same as that of the previous year.  The number of corruption 
cases had not increased, while criminal cases increased only 
slightly and the figure for civil cases remained unchanged. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Chen claimed the slowing economy has not affected the 
work of the Procuratorate significantly.  The Procuratorate's 
Law and Policy Research Office Director Yin Ji said crime rates 
in some developed districts of Jiangsu like Suzhou and Wuxi had 
even declined recently because most criminals in those 
jurisdictions were migrants who had subsequently returned to 
their home provinces as the economy worsened.  According to Yin, 
the economic slowdown has not affected Jiangsu to the same 
extent as Guangdong and Zhejiang -- two of China's other major 
export centers -- because Jiangsu's reliance on 
foreign-invested, export-oriented firms is smaller than in those 
other jurisdictions.  Luo Xiangshun, the Director of the 
Procuratorate's General Office, agreed with Yin and added that 
Jiangsu faces a less serious challenge than Guangdong where the 
economic slowdown has sharply reduced the demand for labor. 
(Note:  Jiangsu academics reported a more bleak assessment of 
the province's current economic situation in a later meeting 
(see septel).  Procuratorate contacts' analysis is based on the 
impact of the economic downturn on legal cases.  End note.) 
 
¶8. (SBU) Luo also stressed that the Jiangsu Provincial People's 
Procuratorate had made solid preparations to help the government 
deal with the new economic situation.  Notably, the Jiangsu 
Procuratorate will help to safeguard the Chinese Government's 
RMB 4 trillion in investment spending from corrupt officials and 
carefully address "internal contradictions" within enterprises 
so as to avoid legal proceedings that might force the firm into 
bankruptcy.  (Comment: Luo's last cryptically worded phrase 
suggests the Procuratorate may be less rigorous in its 
prosecution of corruption cases involving companies in order to 
ensure their continued operation and ability to provide 
employment.  End comment.)  Chen said food and drug safety is a 
very important issue and it relates to people's health closely 
and prosecutors will try their best to tackle this problem and 
bring offenders in that area to justice. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Chen said the Procuratorate keeps close, regular 
contact with the Provincial Audit Office and Supervision 
Department and shares information if evidence emerges indicating 
possible incidents of official corruption.  Yin added that, on 
the Central Government level, a cooperation agreement exists 
among the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Audit Office, the 
Supervision Ministry, and the Communist Party's Central 
Discipline Inspection Commission.  Chen also noted that in 2007 
Jiangsu had held its own conference to coordinate the work of 
the Procuratorate with the Provincial Audit Office and 
Supervision Department.  He stressed the Provincial 
Procuratorate focuses on issues related to Jiangsu only.  The 
Supreme People's Protectorate's upcoming report to the annual 
session of the National People's Congress contains very little 
of interest to the provincial authorities, Chen observed.  More 
important to their work is the internal Prosecutors General 
Conference held prior to the National People's Congress. 
 
Future Cooperation with Consulate 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) With respect to ways in which Congen Shanghai might 
cooperate with the Jiangsu Procuratorate, Yin asked whether the 
Consulate could provide information on the U.S. mechanism for 
excluding illegal evidence and on the United States' criminal 
trial system.  Jiangsu Procuratorate Foreign Affairs Office 
Director Miao Xintao also expressed interest in the possibility 
of finding a candidate from his agency to participate in the 
State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program 
(IVLP). 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Despite the caution of our interlocutors at both the 
Jiangsu High Court and the Procuratorate, they, however, 
appeared to welcome further contact and cooperation with the 
 
SHANGHAI 00000090  003 OF 003 
 
 
Consulate General.  Our assessment is that a USG-sponsored 
speaker, legal reference assistance from Public Affairs' 
Information Resource Center, or nomination of a suitable 
candidate for post's IVLP would receive a welcome audience at 
the Jiangsu High Court and its training institutions, albeit 
with due attention to the topic.  The obvious mobilization of 
Jiangsu's judicial institutions to support the government's 
efforts to stimulate the economy would make a program discussing 
the economic impact of legal systems and procedures particularly 
attractive. 
CAMP